State of the state message : presented to the ... Legislature and to the people of Montana

14 Pages·1991·0.75 MB·English

by  Montana. Governor

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STATE
OF THE STATE
MESSAGE
Presented to the
Fifty-Second Legislature
and to the people
of Montana
January 11, 1991
STAN STEPHENS
Governor of Montana

STATE OP THE STATE MESSAGE
PRESENTED TO THE
FIFTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE
AND TO THE PEOPLE OF MONTANA
BY
GOVERNOR STAN STEPHENS
Friday, January 11, 1991, 11:15 a.m.
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Fifty-Second
Legislative Session, Chief Justice Turnage and members of the
Supreme Court, elected state officials, tribal leaders, and fellow
Montanans.
Every two years at this approximate date in January, the
Governor of Montana is required to address the good people of
Montana through his "State of the State" message. I have
participated in eight such presentations as a member of the
legislature and two years ago I was accorded the honor of
delivering this biennial report to the people.
It has been my observation that the events surrounding the
State of the State follow a predictable pattern. Members of the
Governor's political party usually express support with contents
of the speech while some from the opposing party offer degrees of
criticism with the views presented. Tradition has held that the
State of the State is the Governor presenting his program to the
legislature. I would, as I did in unveiling our state budget, like
this message to be regarded as a message to the people of Montana
as well as the legislature.
In putting together our programs for Montana over the next two
years, we have kept in mind those who stand to gain or lose the
most from the affairs of government, that being, the people of
Montana. Those of you seated in this room today are the elected
representatives of those viewing and listening to our activities
this morning in their homes and communities throughout the state.
What is it the people want and expect from us? Over the course
of the past two years, as I traveled throughout Montana, I have
observed and listened. Today I am prepared to report on what I
believe is the collective will of our fellow citizens.
First, an observation. We hear of the beltway mentality that
prevails in our nation's capitol, the view that the judgment of
the federal government is somehow superior to the knowledge and
understanding of the people who populate the land beyond
Washington, D.C. The vagaries of the beltway mentality are not
exclusive to Washington. We can find such an attitude existing in
many state capitols, even our own.
We must remind ourselves that our constituency is the people
1
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based on the people's will. The public expects leadership and a
commitment to work together in crafting solutions to the problems
that affect the quality of life for all Montanans.
The public will support and understand the need for fair and
competitive compensation for state employees. We will recommend
such a plan to the legislature this session. The public will not
support, nor should they, unrestricted government growth and
expansion beyond that required to provide necessary services.
If, as some say, the appropriations process is "doing good
with other people's money," then let us remember that a substantial
number of the people whose money we appropriate are themselves
facing difficult economic times. I refer especially to many in
agriculture where depressed crop prices and drought continue to
plague much of eastern Montana. A cutback in available timber
supply and the failure of Congress to resolve the wilderness debate
has reduced the number of timber industry jobs and has stagnated
amajor industry. When the timber and agriculture economies suffer,
the negative effects filter into our Main Street small business
community. Despite welcome economic growth in several areas, many
hard working Montanans today are struggling to stay even as they
endure a downturn in the industries that support their families.
In designing ourbudget with NO GENERALTAX INCREASES, we were
mindful of these Montanans. I trust the legislature will keep these
folks in mind when faced with calls for more spending and more
taxes as surely you will be.
While proper credit is not always given, much has been
accomplished by those serving in this legislature and by your
predecessors, by this administration as well as those executive
bodies which have gone before. What has been accomplished since
last we met? An impressive amount, much of it is the direct result
of legislative authority.
We've instituted a very successful welfare reform program
whose theme is that the job of able-bodied Montanans is to get a
job and that low income families should have access to the
educational training and vocational skills they need to break the
cycle of poverty. Our general assistance welfare roles have been
cut in half. The five million dollars saved has been redirected to
make sure Montana's low income children and pregnant women receive
the health care they need to get a good start in life The
legislature authorized this program in 1989. Our administration
worked with over one hundred Montanans to put the pieces together
and we are extremely proud of the outcome to date. It's but one
example of fulfilling the wish of Montanans byWORKING TOGETHER for
the common good.
Prior to the last session, and this administration, the
Montana Developmental Center at Boulderwas decertified for federal
payments because of inadequate services and facilities for its
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Boulder has been recertified. As part of our service delivery
system reform, we've opened up new community-based facilities in
Missoula, Billings, Livingston, Helena and Hamilton. Our program
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improved services while at the same time adding to the economic
base ofMontana communities. We'll present the legislature the next
step in this program.
Montanans have demanded action, not studies, in the
environmental arena. Action is what our administration has worked
to deliver. Wehave avoidedprotracted litigationwhereverpossible
and instead applied our resources toward cleanup and protection.
This has been successful in Livingston where extensive cleanup is
underway to address a century of rail yard pollution. Likewise, the
Clark Fork River Basin and Superfund sites in western Montana have
work underway, not simply studies. In addition to these programs,
we will present an extensive list of reclamation projects to be
funded by the interest from our RIT funds. We're proposing the
investment of about $4 million in mineral tax monies to help
finance over $20 million worth of reclamation and resource
developmentwork. These are programs which will improve the quality
of life for the Montanans we represent. I encourage your careful
study and support for this program.
In 1989, Montana saw a record tourist year with an 11%
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numbers, and the amount of money spent by these visitors grew to
almost $700 million. This is happening bv design, and it's concrete
evidence of the dividends we're receiving from our modest
investment in Montana's Travel Promotion Program. Almost thirty
rents of every tourist dollar is spent on Main Street Montana.
Let's keep this Montana industry growing and strengthening our
economy.
Highway construction, always a priority item for Montanans,
saw one of its biggest years in history in 1990, and the prospect
for the next two years is even better. Over the last year we've
begun work to improve over 800 miles of Montana highways. Ninety
percent of these projects involve Montana contractors and Montana
workers.
Ahistoric fishing and hunting agreement between the State and
the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes was signed this Fall.
It's an agreement developed after extensive discussions not only
with the tribe, but non-tribal members who are affected by its
workings. The agreement is a positive sign and one we hope will be
followed by important water and gaming regulation agreements with
the Confederated Tribes andMontana's other Indian governments this
year and in the years to follow.
Under authorization from the 1989 legislature, we've pursued
privatization of programs which can be handled by the private
sector at less cost to the Montana taxpayer with no loss of
service. We've documented the savings and reduced the size of state
government by moving our custodial services, data processing,
computer billing and security services into private hands. In our
budget, we will request authorization from the legislature to
remove Montana from the retail sale of liquor while retaining
wholesale market control with no loss of tax revenue coming into
the state. The retail sale of liquor is best handled by the private
sector and is not a needed and necessary service of state
government.
Human services, the environment, economic development and
changes in the way state government operates: these are just some
examples of what Montanans have asked for and what has taken place
during the past two years. Turning from the past to our plans for
the future, let me talk about our agenda for Montana. It's a full
plate and one which will improve our state and the lives of her
people. Much of this agenda has been developed with the help of
devotedMontana citizens who havevolunteered their time and effort
to make our state a better place to live, work and play.
The Big Sky Dividend. our major economic development
initiative, will create up to 2,000 new jobs annually for ten years
through a partnership of state and local government working to
rebuild Montana's infrastructure. It requires no new taxes and no
additional state funding, yet it can create a $600 million
investment pool for rebuilding Montana's communities to better
compete in the global marketplace. The Big Sky Dividend invests $20
million of new coal tax proceeds each year of the coming decade
into projects upgrading our state's water and sewer systems,
transportation facilities, educational equipment, environmental
cleanup and other public needs. The money will be used to attract
available federal and private funds in matching amounts for every
dollar Montana provides. It's a responsible "pay as you go" program
which has widespread support among the public we serve. I invite
lawmakers to reflect that popular support through passage of this
legislation.
Montana's small business operations make up 82% of the
economic enterprise in this state, yet this group has great
difficulty financing start-up andexpansion activities. We advocate
correcting that with the Microbusiness Development Act. Using a
one-time appropriation fromthe current Instate Investment Program,
we will provide businesses with regular interest loans of up to
.
$20,000. The loan payback will finance a revolving small business
loan fund. State money will be combined with management training
and oversight to ensure the success of these business ventures.
The success of our farms and ranches is important not just in
our rural areas but to the well-being of Montanans across the
state, Agriculture continues to be the foundation of Montana's
economy. Over the past two years, livestock prices have improved
significantly in some areas, but our farmers remain heavily
dependent on the federal farm program because of drought and low
crop prices. It's imperative that we do more to add value to the
crops we grow. That's the focus of our agriculture efforts in
various state agencies, efforts in which we can show some success.
We assisted in the development of the Waxy Hulless Barley
processing plant in Dillon, potato chip production in Belgrade,
dried flowers prepared for international sale in Plentywood, sun-
dried cherries in Kalispell, paddlefish eggs for caviar inGlendive
and efforts to reopen the Midland Packing Plant in Billings. These
are examples of what can be done, and they're incentive for us to
do more.
We will ask for the legislature's stamp of approval on two
major agency reorganizations
- First, we are proposing to better serve the
transportation needs of Montanans through the creation of
a Department of Transportation. This involves the
consolidationof stategovernment's transportation services
under one administrative roof. It means more efficient
planning, operation and service as well as reduced costs.
- Second, we have developed a plan to consolidate Montana's
permitting agencies involved in the development of our
natural resources and protection of Montana's water, air
and soil into one department while better focusing our
efforts in health services and the management of state
lands.
Both of these reorganizations have been developed with the
assistance and approval of the public these agencies serve. They
are designed to encourage responsible development, provide more
environmental protection, afford more prompt and reliable service
to our customers, and eliminate agency duplication.
We will ask you to join us in addressing the needs of 141,000
Montanans who do not have health insurance. Our "Health Care for
Montanans" programaddresses this deficiencythroughprivate sector
incentives for health insurance coverage, strengthened public
programs to improve access to health care for low income children
and enhanced services for Montana's elderly.
Montana's postsecondary education system is at a crossroads.
5
Our Education Commission for the Nineties and Beyond has provided
us with a blueprint for moving this system along the path of
quality. We've endorsed it's recommendations and worked within our
resources to bring them about. The recommendations are not only
about money but administrative flexibility through lump sum
budgeting, sfmooth transference of credits, continued support for
the state's education systemand improved coordination ofMontana's
K-12, postsecondary and life long learning systems.
With legislative assistance, we increased the University
Saynsottehme'rs 9.f6u%ndiinngcrbeyase$,21ormilalbioount i$n1719m8i9l.lioWne, arfeorretchoemmecnodmiinngg
biennium. Eight million of that amount represents new dollars over
and above inflationary factors, pay plan costs and enrollment
increases. These funds will be used tomeet Regent-identified needs
and priorities.
In addition to greater programmatic support, we are
recommending $53 million in capital improvements for ouruniversity
and college campuses through the state's Long Range Building
Program. This funding will construct a number of top priority
facilities for the University System including a Business
Administration Building at the University of Montana, a Physical
Science/Engineering Complex at Montana State University, and
improvements to Apsaruke Hall at Eastern Montana College.
For our elementary and high schools, we have increased state
support by about $105 million as directed by our new school funding
equalization formula. We are fully funding the program and we
recommend that the new funding system have an opportunity to
actually work before any major adjustments are made. Indications
are that the so-called underfunded schools are closing the gap
between their higher spending counterparts. We are meeting the
mandate for maintaining quality education through funding
equalization,,
In addition to the Foundation Program, we heartily endorse
continued legislative support of the state's Educational
Telecommunications Network Project,, This project, tying Montana's
schools and communities together through telecommunications, will
begin to materialize this year because of a $300,000 appropriation
from the 1989 Legislature and a generous $150,000 donation from TCI
Cablevision. The cable firm has offered another donation of like
amount if continued legislative support is given. I'm confident
you'll recognize the benefit of this investment and join us in
continuing to develop this resource which allows us to take great
strides forward in Improving access to educational opportunities
for all Montana children.
Opportunity is the theme of our Jobs for Montana's Graduates
Program as well. Through Jobs for Montana's Graduates we have been
working with at-risk high school seniors to ensure that they stay
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students in the years to come.
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join me in providing the assistance they need.
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be a bonus for Montana.
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those affected by its recommendations.
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projects. The Water Development Advisory Council, our public
oversight committee, has endorsed these projects, and we believe
they offer great benefits for Montana's water users.
Montana must play a meaningful role in encouraging the wise
use of energy and the responsible development of new energy
sources. The current unrest in the Persian Gulf has amplified the
urgency for action in this area.
******
Speaking of the Persian Gulf and the threat of war in that
troubled region, I want to recognize the valiant Montana men and
women who have been called to serve in Operation Desert Shield.
It has been my honor to bid farewell to most of them as they
have departed and today we have with us two members of the Montana
National Guard. One who has just returned from active duty in Saudi
Arabia and one who leaves for assignment in the Gulf tomorrow.
These soldiers are fitting representatives of Montanans serving in
the Armed Forces to whom we extend our gratitude and our deep sense
of pride for their service to our state and nation.
May I present these honored guests.
-Having just returned from the Persian Gulf, MAJOR ARTHUR
HEFFELFINGER, a helicopter test pilot;
-With his wife, DELMA, and son, DARRIN, SPECIALIST DAVID
SOMMERS, who will tommorrow depart for the Gulf.
Thank you very much for being here.
****
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role with the state's paper recycling program initiated by this
administration. Montana has lagged in energy production, not
because we lack energy resources but because state policies have
discouraged it. We need to turn that around for the benefit of our
state and the nation. We will be seeking legislation that makes
production of Montana's oil and natural gas more competitive with
surrounding states. Our program is aimed at creating an energy
policy package balanced between both production and conservation.
A number of recommendations we have for the state requir3 very
difficult decisions. Our administration and many Montanans have
struggled with these issues. As is our responsibility and duty, we
have reached conclusions based on thorough research and evaluation
of the facts at hand. We are prepared to demonstrate that our plans
are sound and that these difficult choices will lead to
8